


Of Pizza and Parents

by SabbyStarlight



Series: Cairo Week 2020! [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Cairo Week 2020, Fluff, Found Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23683243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Day Four:  Outisder POVPizza Paradise had been a part of Lori’s life for what felt like forever. She opened it out of necessity and heartbreak.
Series: Cairo Week 2020! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701235
Comments: 35
Kudos: 57





	Of Pizza and Parents

Pizza Paradise had been a part of Lori’s life for what felt like forever. She opened it out of necessity and heartbreak.

Growing up with a father in the Military, she had decided, when she was still far too young to be making decisions about her future, that she wanted out of that life as fast as possible. Fate had other plans, as it usually did, and she ended up falling head over heels for a young man her first week of college while working nights at a local bowling alley to pay for the tuition that was worth every penny since it was a blessed entire continent away from the latest base the rest of her family was still stationed at, only to find out that he himself was in the service.

She loved him more than she had known was possible, but he was taken from her far too soon, the crack of each rifle from the salute at his service resonated through her dreams every night, each one reminding her of a lifetime of promises and dreams they never got to live out together. She had a heart as empty as his side of the bed and three devastated children with their daddy’s eyes. After a few weeks, the help from family and friends dissipated and she was left to manage things on her own. She would lose herself four hours sometimes, when it became too much, just remembering. Ignoring the horror that was her current situation and instead, retreating back to happier times. Some of her favorite memories were of the really easy days, back when they first met, young and madly in love, so unafraid of what the future held as he would sneak through the back door of that little bowling alley and pull her away for a few moments of fun, hidden behind the shadow of the pinball machine in the corner.

That memory stayed in the back of her mind as she made a desperate phone call back home late one night, trying to explain through her tears that she was stuck in an impossible situation. Sure she could get a job, but without ever having to put that business degree to use, the starting salary for a woman of her age with no experience to put on a resume would barely be enough to cover child care, let alone living expenses as well. She had been demoted to a single parent and sole provider overnight and what she needed was a job with a child-friendly environment where she could work and still be able to be the mother her kids deserved.

It had seemed like a joke until the sounds of that pinball machine became the background soundtrack of her dreams that night, instead of gunshots, and she knew what she had to do.

It took every ounce of savings they had saved up, and some serious begging until she found a bank willing to give her a loan to cover the rest, but over the course of a single summer an abandoned building in downtown Glendale had been transformed into the happiest little arcade and restaurant imaginable and she was a business owner. With work hours she could control and a safe place for her kids to stay after school without having to go home to an empty house. The walls were filled with the sounds of children laughing and while that wasn’t enough to repair her shattered heart, it was enough for her to begin to heal.

Her babies were mostly grown the first time she met Jack Dalton, all either already out of the house or too old to think spending their evenings at a kid’s arcade was as cool as they had when they were young. After years of running the place, she had a good eye for recognizing familiar patrons and he was most certainly not one of them. The regular customers were what kept her in business, after all. She watched the kids grow up, maturing from wide-eyed little things with untied shoelaces, barely old enough to no longer be considered a toddler into surly teenagers being tugged unwillingly through the doors as parents fought to keep them young just a single day longer. He, and the girl who was clearly unhappy about being ushered into the arcade in front of him, obviously fell into the latter category, though she hadn’t seen either of them before.

She knew he was Military before the door swung closed behind him.

It was obvious. Maybe not to an untrained eye, but she recognized it instantly. As he came closer though, she started to realize that it was more than that. There was something about the correctness of his posture and the way he walked, with steps so sure. How his eyes scanned his surroundings automatically, searching for threats or any signs of danger, even in a place that was pure innocence and fun.

"There's a discount," she said, nodding towards the plaque proudly displayed on the counter in memory of her late husband as he paid for two all-day wrist bands. "For all military personnel and their families. Just need your i.d." 

"Ah, not me," He smiled, shooting a worried glance to the young girl, standing with arms crossed a few feet away, pretending not to be too entranced by the seemingly endless number of games waiting on them. "I just sell bathroom tile. Appreciate the offer though." That lie, as smoothly as it was delivered was enough to tell her that not only had he served, but he was still active, and whatever branch he worked for was something bigger than either of the men in her life had ever gone into. It was obvious he didn't want his daughter to know what he did for a living, or maybe he wasn't allowed to tell her, so she smiled back and didn't mention it again. 

They came in at least a couple of times a month after that. Sometimes as soon as the doors were opened on a Saturday morning to spend the entire day playing games, sometimes after school on a random weekday and only staying long enough to eat a quick pizza dinner. Never on a set schedule, so they were untrackable, Jack removing the risk factor of predictability even though she was pretty sure he wasn't doing it intentionally. Old habits, and all that. 

They were regular customers for a few years. She watched the young girl, Riley, she learned her name was, slowly begin to let down her walls. She had a contagious laugh that could rival her father's booming one any day, you just had to be trusted enough to be around when she used it. Unlike most kids, she wouldn't get upset when she lost at a game, but rather when she caught her father slacking off, intentionally getting a low score, so she could win. 

They were happy, until the day they weren't. 

She never found out what happened to Jack, not really. They came in one Tuesday evening and everything seemed fine and the next Saturday Riley was waiting outside when she arrived to unlock the door. Whatever had occurred in those short few days had left their mark and the young girl was alone, for the first time since she had known the little family. The walls Jack had tried so hard to tear down had been built back up overnight and reinforced with steel, anger glinted in her eyes instead of the happiness that used to shine there. 

She didn't stay, only spent a few moments wandering between empty tables, staring longingly at the skeeball machine that had become their favorite for a moment before running back out the door, not quite able to hold back her tears. Lori was left with a sinking feeling that something terrible had happened. She had seen that haunted look on her own children's faces after receiving the news that their own father wasn't coming home. Riley didn't come in again after that, so she never got the chance to ask. 

Jack Dalton walked back through her door years later and she nearly dropped the bottle of cleaner she was using to wipe down the counters when she recognized his face. He had aged, but, she supposed, she had too. Recovering just before he caught sight of her shocked expression, she had to stop herself from climbing up on her tiptoes to peer over his broad shoulders, searching for a familiar head of dark curls, anxious to see the young woman his daughter had to have grown into over the years. Instead of Riley though, it was a young man. 

Blonde hair that had clearly been regulation length at some point, and piercing blue eyes that were trying to take in everything there was to see in the unfamiliar surroundings all at once. The closer he got to the counter she recognized the tension in his shoulders and the haunted shadows in his eyes. He had served too, then, she decided, easily recognizing the signs. And from the looks of things had just made it home. 

Jack greeted her as warmly as he always had, introducing the younger man as Mac before paying for both of them, despite Mac pulling out his own wallet. She kept an eye on them that day, watching as Jack encouraged Mac to try out every game except for, skee ball, she noticed, that one he avoided entirely. She took the pizza they ordered to them herself, watching from a distance how Mac didn't seem very excited about the slice Jack put on a paper plate and slid over to him, only taking a bite or two when Jack eagerly dove into his own piece and started on a second, sending a pointed look at the one sitting untouched on the other side of the table. 

Jack didn't bring Mac by nearly as often as he had Riley, which made sense, they were, after all, both grown men. It was almost a full year after she met the younger man for the first time that they came in again. She almost didn't recognize them through the bruises and scrapes. Jack was on crutches and Mac's left arm was in a cast and they seemed to be arguing about cursed mummies if her eavesdropping skills were still up to par. 

She came to the conclusion that they were no longer working under any branch of the Military, but rather for a government agency, though she would never let them know that she had guessed as much. Sometimes, after what she could only guess was a rough mission, job, whatever they called what they did for a living, they would need a break from the darkness of the world and needed to spend an evening in a place of light. 

That was what she was expecting when Jack came through the door one day, earlier than he and Mac usually stopped in. It wasn't Mac he brought with him this time, though. It was Riley. A grown up, still guarded, hesitant Riley who was just as beautiful as Lori had known she would become. Jack was giddy. There was no other word for it, practically bouncing with the excitement of having his little girl back, of being given a second chance. 

Riley, apparently, was the key. After that day Jack Dalton became a regular customer again, only he didn't just bring one kid with him at a time anymore. Sure, there were days when he brought one of them by themselves. Those were usually the days that there were serious discussions and heartfelt admissions, hidden among the buzzers and bells of games and happy laughter, but they were rare. More often than not, it was Jack with Mac and Riley and others too, some clearly not excited to be spending an afternoon at a children's arcade, some complaining about the pizza, but the hesitancy faded once they saw how happy Jack was to have them there. To share that piece of his heart with his kids, his family. 

She had thought that finally, after all the years she had quietly spent invested in the life of one man, practically a stranger, Jack Dalton had finally gotten his happy ending. 

Until the day Riley and Mac walked through her door without him. 

Instantly, she assumed the worst and her heart sank. But they weren't grieving. Wherever Jack was, he wasn't dead. Not yet, at least. But something was clearly wrong. They were... broken. The beautiful little family dynamic that had grown over the years was nonexistent. Secrets were being kept, instead of shared, and even as they laughed and joked their way through the familiar games it seemed wrong. Hollow, as if they were only going through the motions. A puzzle with a missing piece. 

Those types of meetings happened occasionally, even after Jack was gone, though not as often as when he had been there to bring them all together. Lori always greeted them with the same warm smile though and tried not to think back to the days when the smiles they offered her in return didn't seem so forced. 

She had just come back from their table, dropping off two pizzas, fresh out of the oven herself instead of the usual wait staff. There was a protectiveness she felt over his kids, and that was how she would always think of them, Jack's kids, that had only multiplied in intensity with Jack's absence. He was on her mind, which was probably the only reason she didn't gasp clear out loud from shock when she saw his face come through her door again. 

He had a full beard, which she had never seen in all the years she had known him, and a few more lines around his eyes, but they were just as bright when he recognized her familiar face and offered her a smile. He held a finger to his lips, asking her to stay quiet, to keep his arrival a surprise for a few more minutes. She nodded, assuring him she understood the plan and pointed towards their table. He followed, eyes tracking across the familiar scene, until he saw them, his kids, and even if she hadn't promised him to stay quiet she wouldn't have mentioned the tears that welled up in his eyes at that moment. She refused to take the money he offered and when he insisted she broke their agreement, nodding towards the plaque with her husband's face still displayed proudly on the counter. "It's on the house," She twisted the wedding band she still wore around her finger and explained. "My husband. He served his country, same as you, only he didn't get to make it back home. Our kids were young, far, far too young, when he left us. He didn't get the chance to see them grow up. Wasn't given the gift you were. You can pay me by promising not to leave them again. You might not be so lucky next time and those kids? They need their father back."

"I ain't leavin'," Jack promised. "Never again. Cause I figured out the hard way that I need them just as much as they need me. Thank you. For everything over the years, but, seems like you've been keepin' an eye on 'em since I've been gone. I'm glad they had somewhere to go that might've made it feel like I wasn't so far away."

"Of course," She smiled. "It's been an honor, getting to watch them grow up over the years. Now quit talking to me, I'm not who you came here to see. You've got some kids over there to hug." 

"Damn right, I do," He grinned back, heading towards a reunion that had been months in the making.

**Author's Note:**

> How many "Jack comes back" fics are too many for one person to write? I kept quiet about this one, didn't tell anyone about what I had planned for today because I wasn't sure it was going to turn out how I wanted. But I'm pretty happy with this one, even if it did become a little bit more about Jack and Riley and the team-as-family dynamic instead of focusing entirely on Mac and Jack. Back to our regularly scheduled whump tomorrow!


End file.
